Witch Vomit – Poisoned Blood (Review)

After the underground gem that was 2016’s A Scream from the Tomb Below, the fantastically named Witch Vomit are back with a new 19 minute EP of foul, ugly death metal.

Witch Vomit play their death metal in the old-school style, seemingly fresh from the 90s and including the odd bit of doom misery thrown in here and there.

Mixing lashings of Swedish death metal with the US style of a band like Autopsy, Witch Vomit’s music is horrid, foul, distasteful, unforgiving, rotten, and quite despicable. As should be apparent, I use all of these words to indicate a very good thing when it comes to the kind of raw, underground bludgeoning that Witch Vomit give the listener.

The songs have a good mix of eye-gouging riffs and rusted hooks, with the band showing that they have not only the ability to brutalise their prey, but can also terrify with macabre atmosphere and grim melodies. The latter two elements are rarer occurrences than the former’s wanton aggression, but they’re still done rather well. Very well in fact.

Alongside the brutal music, one of things that stood out for me on the band’s debut was their singer. On Poisoned Blood he has lost none of his monstrous appeal, belching out darkened growls with feral intensity like it’s going out of fashion. Well, thankfully this kind of thing never was in fashion, but you get the idea. Basically, I love his voice.

It’s great to hear some new material from Witch Vomit, and it’s just as strong as that of their debut album, possibly even more so. Whatever’s next for the band, I eagerly await it.